Small Business
Bookkeeping Services
Too many businesses are operating without the necessary financial transparency to "take action" in a timely manner. We want to change that. If you have been waiting months to get your books closed out or have errors that consistently appear in your financial statements, you need to call us!
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What Does Great Bookkeeping Look Like?
Sophisticated entrepreneurs know that a one-size-fits-all approach to bookkeeping doesn't cut it. Your financials need to be customized to your business to give you meaningful information, delivered timely, and done with impeccable accuracy. If you're settling for anything less, you're putting your business at risk. Dark Horse business clients, in concert with their Dark Horse CPA, get the information they need to strategically guide their businesses towards growth and increased profitability.
We have some thoughts on "What Great Bookkeeping Looks Like" that we encourage you to read!
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Did you know?
50% of small businesses fail within the first five years, largely due to poor financial management during their startup phase
70% of businesses that fail due to poor financial management have in-house bookkeeping and accounting
Businesses who outsource their bookkeeping experience a 40% reduction in operation costs and a 4% increase in profitability
Bookkeeping Services
- Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly Bookkeeping
- Financial Statement Compilations
- Bill Pay (Accounts Payable) Outsourcing
- Invoicing Support & Outsourcing
- Payroll
- Sales Tax Returns
- Embedding Receipts Within Financial Statements
- Chart of Accounts Customization
Suzi has been my CPA for well over a decade, for both my businesses and personal finances - I could not imagine working with anyone else. She understands my business & personal financial goals and helps me manage both effective and efficiently.
Bookkeeping FAQs
I just started my business so there’s not a lot going on just yet. Do I need a bookkeeper?
Absolutely! Initial bookkeeping setup, bookkeeping flow, and strategic goal setting/business consultations are ideal for all small businesses, but especially for startups unfamiliar with the routines of backend accounting processes. It is always best to start off on the right foot if you are planning to truly build your legacy and reach your targeted goals as fast as possible.
Should my books be done on the cash basis or accrual basis of accounting?
Most businesses will at least need to have cash basis bookkeeping for tax reporting purposes. For simpler businesses, this may be all you need. For businesses that have a bit more going on, you’d be well advised to also keep your books on the accrual basis of accounting in combination with cash basis books (you can keep your books on both accounting methods to be able to see either with the click of a button). Accrual accounting allows for you to better match revenue and expenses so that you can gain deeper insight into profitability and your true performance during a given period of time. It is also the foundation of being able to do forecasting, proformas, profitability analyses and other fractional CFO-type services. If your business is an accrual basis taxpayer (we can help you figure that out), then you’ll absolutely need accrual basis bookkeeping.
I have a bookkeeper that costs me very little; what is the value of going with Dark Horse?
The reason a bookkeeper’s pricing would be relatively cheap is that they’re doing the lowest level of bookkeeping...cash basis bookkeeping where they shove revenues and expenses in generic accounts. Often, they have taken on a lot of clients to be able to pay the bills, which causes your bookkeeping to be done well after the fact, leaving you with books that have stale numbers that don’t give you needed insight into your business. Dark Horse CPAs know accounting (not just how to use QuickBooks Online), so they’ll be able to provide you with financial statements that display meaningful information on your margins and profitability of your revenue streams, locations, etc. You’ll receive this information timely, and we can grow with you to help you dive deeper into the numbers to create strategic, operational plans. Read a bit more about the Dark Horse difference here. here.
What is the ideal frequency for accurate bookkeeping?
We recommend monthly bookkeeping as a best practice. However, in certain situations where transactions are very limited (such as during the initial year of a start-up), we can conduct quarterly or annual bookkeeping services. For most businesses, we prefer to avoid year-end/annual bookkeeping. The reasoning is there is typically a lot of clean-up and a lot of questions that need to be answered in a timely manner to be ready for tax filings. Plus, there might have been opportunities for additional tax planning and savings throughout the year that could have been missed or overlooked if we were only looking at your books after the year closes.
I have extremely complex bookkeeping needs with a large number of transactions each month. Should I be outsourcing or hiring in-house?
As with any major function of your business, you’ll need to assess your ability to lead and manage any internal staff to ensure a successful outcome. Many business owners aren’t equipped to do this in the area of accounting and thus make less-than-ideal hires and aren’t able to set their accountants up for success. Alternatively, by hiring a Dark Horse CPA, you’ll be paying a fraction of the cost since we can provide our services in a much more efficient manner than most in-house accountants, thus eliminating the salary and benefits of a full-time accountant. Also, you won’t have to manage us as we’ll partner with you to deploy solutions that have been highly effective with clients in similar industries and situations as yours. For certain businesses, it may not be an either/or approach. You may need in-house accounting staff supplemented by a Dark Horse Fractional CFO. Either way, we’ll let you know what we believe to be the best approach for your business.
Industries We Serve
While your business is unique, it's unlikely that you're in an industry we haven't served. Below are a few of the industries we have deep experience with.
Find Your Dark Horse CPA
When you work with Dark Horse, you're actually working with your very own Dark Horse CPA, instead of a rotating roster of staff like you get with the traditional CPA firm. Select a specialty below to get matched with the right CPA.
Locations
Because we're entirely cloud-based, we can work with you from anywhere. If you prefer to work with a local CPA, check out our quickly growing list of locations.
Blogs and Pods
Whether you prefer the written word or the spoken word, we've got meaningful commentary that will help you focus on what's important when it comes to your financial situation and taxes.
